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18 May 2015

How do we label ourselves..

So something a little different today, I've been a little short on time in the last 48 hours, bad planning... well may be.

So the last few days I've met quite a few people for the first time or seeing old friends again. Naturally they all ask 'What are you doing these days with all your free time?'

I love to see the look on their faces when I cooly say... 'I spend my time writing for a blog just about Filofax and other brands of organisers, talking and helping readers and keeping in touch with two small organiser companies in Belgium (Gillio) and the Netherlands (Van der Spek) etc etc...'

I'm getting good at the explanation now... well practiced I suppose, but it will make you smile to see the look on their faces, it completely floors them...

However, I sometimes run in to a problem trying to explain why anyone would want to own more than one organiser... let alone a collection of them (puts up hand... guilty as charged!)

11 comments:

I think we're perfectionists, always looking for the perfectly planned day, and the perfectly laid occasion, so of course we search for the perfect planner. Of course perfection is almost impossible to find, let alone for changeable humans, so we change from 'perfect' planner to 'perfect' planner, and end up with a collection, that collectively is 'perfect'.

Some might call that collecting, but that's just the result, not the aim!

At the risk of becoming a bit philosophical for a Monday morning, a couple of thoughts occur to me here.

Firstly, passion and obsession can, to a large extent, be viewed as two sides of the same coin. Plenty of people have an enthusiasm about their favourite sports team, for example, that could easily be characterised by an observer as either a passion or an obsession. And the characterisation ascribed will be partly subjective too. It will also depend on how typical the focus of interest happens to be. Philofaxy probably falls on the less typical side.

Secondly, in his book "The Star Principle", Robert Koch discusses the commercial history of Filofax, and notes that the term "personal organiser" was coined in 1986 by David Collischon, who then headed the company, in order to define the category of which Filofax was the product. Another example would be vacuum cleaner (the category) and Hoover (the product). While this was useful in marketing terms, to help people understand the benefit of what they were selling, I think it also narrowed people's perspective to a degree. The fact that a category hadn't really existed before then indicates that we are dealing with something that's multi-various and hard to pin down. If we instead described Filofaxes as compact ring binders, then I think far fewer people would have difficulty in seeing why someone might want to own more than one.

The desire to collect things is probably another layer on top of these considerations.If we were here each day discussing the merits of the Hoover, and arguing that having lots in a domestic context is perfectly normal, we would probably be on thin ice. But we are not quite there, and if we are obsessive about our Filofaxes, let's hope it's only in a good way!

Why do people collect cars? Type, manufacturer, country of origin, time period; the reasons are as diverse as the people themselves. Many women, and yes men too, collect handbags and wallets. Some, myself included, acquire these “little” 6-ring binder contraptions to house and transport our thoughts, dreams, wants, plans…insert your own reasons. I happen to enjoy “trifting.” It’s the thrill of the hunt. My collection’s growth is just the result, and the fact that they serve a purpose and are pretty to look at, that’s the icing on the cake. In short, they make me happy.

I think we are a little bit of both. To be collectors I think we must be some obsession. The fact that we find beautiful things in having a myriad of planners that's because some of us are obsessed with different things about having planners? We are in love and somewhat obsessed with the feeling and appearance of new organizers and paper and inserts. And who wouldn't? :)

I'm a (fountain) pen & paper girl. That's why I need so many planner and notebooks, providing myself with just enough Planning canvas and creative playground for me. Not every body is able to understand that, but as long as hey are just curious and relaxed, I'm perfectly fine with that.

I've never been a huge girly girl--I don't collect shoes or purses like the typical stereotype. Instead, I collect pens, paper, office supplies, journals, etc., and anything else that falls into that category. When I discovered planners, it was just one more way for me to journal and write, and I love finding different purposes for my planners or changing them out when I feel like using one over the other.